Cotton-condenser.



T. s. m-mmm, COTTON CONDENSER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1911.

Lflfilfll 1L 1 m Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

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1, & G-RIMEEL COTTON GONDENQEB.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1911. mmm m 11 D Patented 1068.9,1913.

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' of the single drum fitate of Georgia,

lUNTTEU STATES PATENT UFFTCE.

THADDEUS STOW GRIMES, Oli COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR T LUMMUS COTTONGIN GQMPANY, 01E CULUMBUS, GEORGIA, A CORPORATION OF GEORGTd.

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ltpecification of Letters Patent. Application filed June at), 1911.

Patented Dec. a 1913. Serial No. 534,3'73.

db all whom it may concern Be it known that l, Tnmnnnns S. Gaines acitizen of the United States, residing at tloluinbus, in the county ofMuscogee and have invented certain new and useful improvements inCottouCondensers; and l do hereby declare the following to he a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to cotton condensers type, and the object is toprovide an improved construction in which the cotton is brought into thecondenser at a tangent with the circumference of the drum, then blown bymeans of an air current of high velocity through an unobstructed passagearound substantially the entire drum with only a small portion cominginto contact with the latter, and then carried between rollers rotatedat slow speed as compared with the velocity of the aforesaid aircurrent, thus forming a thick and strong bat.

ll urther objects will appear from the following description and theyinclude the provision of novel cleaning means mounted adjacent to therollers at the outlet, and the provision of means for preventing theescape of air or cotton at certain points.

lln theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this application: Figurel is a view of the device in end elevation. l ig. 2 is a view invertical transverse section. Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of a portionof the driving mechanism. Fig. 4 is a detail view of a conveyor mountedwithin a hinged dust receptacle forming a partof the casing. Fig. 5 is adetail view showing the pinion for driving the condenser drum.

lln carrying out my invention, 1 provide a suitable casing 10, of whichthe framework forms a part, and Within this casing l mount a drum 16formed with beads 17 suitably spaced apart and surrounded by a wirescreen. The screen is shown at 18 and is passed around metallic slats 19and secured to wooden slats 20. The drum is mounted on a shaft 21 and isdriven by means of a pinion 22 mounted on short shaft 23, which alsocarries a pinion 24, the teeth of which are engaged by a sprocket chain25. The drum 16 is spaced slightly from the side walls 26 of the casing,and the cotton is prevented from being blown through the space betweenthe drum and the end walls by means of a packing material 27, one edgeof which rests upon the circumference of the drum at the end portion,and the other edge against the said side walls 26.

Vithin one end of the drum is a rack 27 engaged'by the aforesaid pinion22 for the purpose of rotating the drum. The driving. shaft is shown inFig. 3 and is designated by 28, and carries at one end a ulley 29, whichis driven by a belt not S1OWI1. The bearings for the shaft 28 are shownat 29 and 30, and a beveled gear 31 is carried by the end of shaft 28opposite to pulley 29 and engages a larger beveled gear 32 secured toshaft 33. The shaft last mentioned carries on its opposite end asprocket wheel 34, around which a chain passes. Shaft 83 carries aroller 35 forming a part of the mechanism for receiving the cotton fromthe condenser and discharging it. A second roller 36 is mounted roller35 and is carried by a shaft 37, the ends of which are supported bypivotally mounted and slotted arms 38 shown in Fig.

3. One of said arms 38 is connected at its--- free end to a coiledspring 39, secured at one end to the casing and serving to aid inholding roller 36 in the proper position. The opposite end of the rolleris held in position by the chain 25, and it will be observed that theconstruction described permits of the automatic positioning of roller 36to correspond with a bat having a given thicknose.

The partition between the inlet for the lint and the outlet comprises aplurality of partition members. Roller 35 is the upper partition memberand V-shaped member 42 mounted. on transverse bars 43 constitutes thelower member of the partition. It will be observed that as a result ofthis construc tion the roller 35 in connection with strip 58 onpartition 42 aids in preventing the passage of air or lint laterallyfrom the in let immediately to the outlet when the device is inoperation. The space between the rollers and the drum is then filledwith the main body of lint being discharged.

it will be observed that the inlet is so positioned that the cottonreceived from the gins enters the casing at a tangent to thecirmmfercnce of the drum. The result of this construction is that amajor portion of drum.

the stream of cotton is carried through the casing without coming intocontact with the The high velocity of the air current as compared withthe speed of rollers 35 and36 serves to produce a strong, thick bat, thecotton moving through the condenser at comparatively high speed andbeing discharged at a slower rate. A considerable quantity of dust willbe driven through the wire screen 18 of the drum by the force of the aircurrent and will emerge atetheends of the drum through a portion 45 ofthe casing, which is approximately semi-conical in configuration, thencepassing to the upper end portion 46 of the casing and to the outlet fluenot shown in the present drawings.

Referring again to the sprocket chain 25 and to the several rollersandsprocket wheel forming a part of the operating mechanism it will beobserved upon an examination 0 Fig. 1 that the said chain 25 passesaround a sprocket wheel 48 which is mounted upon shaft 49 passinglengthwise through the lower portion of the hinged section 49 of thecasing. Shaft 49- carries flanges 50 and constitutes a conveyer, whichserves to carry the dust and trash accumulating in said hinged section49 out through an opening 50 in the end of hinged section 49. i

The inner wall of the hinged section 00mprises a screen 51 which mayhave the same curvature as that of the main wall of the casin and bespaced from the surface of the rum an equal distance with the remainderof the said wall. The chain 25 passes around sprocket wheels 24, 34 and48 and bears against sprocket wheel 55 carried by shaft 87. I

A strip of flexible material 57 is carried on member 58 of the frameworkand extends over roller 36, for the purpose of forming a substantiallyair tight connection, regardless of the position of the roller. Asimilar strip 58' projects over roller 35. The sprockets of rollers 35and 36 are so proportioned that the latter {are given the sameperipheral speed.

' The condenser herein described possesses several important advantageswhich will be briefly referred to Only a limited portion of the cottonlint adheres to and 15 controlled directly by the drum, the remainderpassing around the drum and outwardly between the rollers, withoutencountering obstructions in its path. The air is thus permitted to passthrough the drum more readily (the surface of the latter beingcomparatively free), and the drum and rollers may be rotated at a slowerspeed than would otherwise be necessary. This slower speed produces athicker bat.

By positioning the inlet and outlet on the same side of the drum andadjacent to one another (being separated only by the roller alongside ofa. between said outlet and the drum,

the upper portion of the particircumconstituting tion wall),approximately the entire ference of'the drum ismadeuse of.

the rollers fail to take out-all of the lint cotton, and allow some ofit to be carried beyond the smaller by being blown out through the dustflues, as in certain other. machines, bu t it will be brought around asecond time to the rollers 35 and 36, where it will be drawn out withthe remainder of the cotton. 7

The dust receptacle withinthehinged portion of the casing is located ata point ad jacent tn the rollers at the outlet, thus serving animportant cleaning function, reason that the centrifugal action has, bythe time the lint reaches the point mentioned, caused the dust to passto the outer portion of the stream, in position to be discharged throughscreen 51 into the receptacle provided for the purpose.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, a. casing, a drum havin perforatewalls arranged to rotate therem, an inlet for introducing air and cottonat a tangent-with the drum, a lint outlet extending in substan tiallythe same direction as the inlet and the latter and rollers on oppositesides of the lint outlet of the casing, one of saidrollers being locatedbetween the inlet of the casing and the other roller, and

and serving in part as a partition-member between said inlet and lintoutlet. 2

2. In a device of the class described, a casing, a drum having perforatewalls arranged to rotate therein, an inlet and a lint outlet for saidcasing arranged to permit the unobstructed passage of the main stream oflint about the drum without coming into contact therewith, and rollerson opposite sides of the lint outlet of the casing one of said rollersbeing located between the inlet of the casing and the other roller, andbetween said outlet and the drum, and servin in part as a partitionmember between said inlet and lint 'outlet.

3. In a'device of the class described, a casing, a drum having perforatewalls arranged to rotate therem, an lnlet and a lint outlet for, thecasing, rollers on opposite sides of the lint outlet of the casing, oneof said rollers being located between the inlet of the casing and theother roller, and between said outlet and the drum, and serving in partas a partition member between said inlet and lint outlet, and a cleaningdevice constituting a part of the casing and arranged adjacent to saidrollers.

4. In a device of the class described, a casing, a drum having perforatewalls mounted therein, an inlet and a lint outlet for said casing,rollers on opposite sides of the lint outletof the casing, one of saidroller, it will not be lost for the Should anemia rollers being locatedbetween the inlet oil the casing and the other roller, and between saidoutlet and the drum, and serving in part as a partition member betweensaid inlet and lint outlet, and the other of said rollers being mountedto swing in a direction transversely of its axis.

5. In a device of the class described, a casing, a drum having perforatewalls arranged to rotate therein, an inlet and an outlet for saidcasing, a plurality of rollers arranged adjacent to the outlet, one ofsaid rollers constituting a portion of the artition wall of the outlet,the other 0" said rollers being arranged to vswing laterally withreference to the adjacent roller, a pinion for driving the drum, apinion carried by the shaft of each of the "rollers and means fordriving all of said pinions.

6, In a device of the class described, a casing, a drum mounted torotate therein, an inlet and an outlet for said casing, a dustreceptacle, the inner wall of which constitutes a continuation of thewalls of the casing and is provided with apertures means for hingingsaid dust receptacle to t e casing proper, a conveying device within thedust receptacle, a plurality of devices for discharging a cotton bat,and means for driving said conveying device, the aforesaid drum and thebat discharging devices.

7. In a device of the class described, a casing, a drum arrangedto'rotate therein, a stationary partition wall ing, said casing beingprovided with an inlet and an outlet, a roller mounted ad- 'jacent tothe upper within the cars end of said partition and between the latterand drum, means for preventing the escape of air between the roller andthe stationary portion of the partition, a second roller ad acent to theroller first mentioned, coiiperatin therewith in the formation anddischarge oi a cotton bat and having a movement in a direction at rightangles to its main axis, a dust rece tacle within the wall of the casingand ad acent to said second roller, a conveying device within the saidreceptacle, and means for driving said rollers, the aforesaid drum andthe conveying means.

8. In a device of the class described, a casing, a drum mounted torotate therein, a stationary partition member mounted with in thecasing, said casing being formed with an inlet and an outlet on oppositesides of the partition member, a rotating device adjacent to thepartition member and constituting a portion of the separating meansbetween the inlet and outlet, a second roller adjacent to the rollerfirst mentioned and having a greater diameter, a pinion for rotating thedrum, and means for driving said pinion and said rollers, whereby thelatter have imparted thereto a corresponding peripheral speed.

In testimon whereof I aflix my signature in presence 0 two witnesses.

THADDEUS SlOW GRIMES. Witnesses GEORGE H. Fons, K. Roscoe LUMMUB.

